Gathers’ Tragedy Leaves Many Friends Speechless and His Coaches in Tears

Hank Gathers died in the surroundings he loved most. It was a sad twist to a tragic story that left many of his colleagues speechless, his coaches in tears.

“The last thing he ever did was a slam dunk, then he went out and slapped the hand of the kid who gave him the pass,” said San Jose State basketball Coach Stan Morrison, who coached Gathers his freshman year at USC.

“I was watching it on ESPN, and I saw him fall, then he tried to get up, much like a champion boxer. I told my wife that Hank thinks if he doesn’t get up he won’t get to play in these championships. Then I saw him go down. And then I saw the convulsions.”

Gathers, 23, died Sunday night after collapsing during Loyola Marymount’s West Coast Conference Tournament game against Portland. He was taken to Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

It was the second time this season that Gathers had collapsed on his home court during a game. After the first incident, Dec. 9, doctors suspected an accelerated heartbeat may have led to the fainting spell.

“When he collapsed the first time this year he did it on the free-throw line,” Morrison said. “So I called Hank at the hospital and I said, ‘You know, some guys will do anything to keep from shooting a free throw, including pass out on the line.’

“I don’t know if you are aware of this but Hank has been shooting his free throws left-handed. He’s a right-hander, and when I got him he was the world’s worst free throw shooter.

“So I used to stay after work with him on the dart theory. I tried to get him to be a wrist shooter. Finally Hank had a major breakthrough and he went from shooting 20% to close to 70%. When he would make a free throw he would look over at me and wink because he had a new toy.”

Morrison said Gathers didn’t know what was wrong with him when he collapsed the first time.

“He said they ran a million tests,” Morrison said. “Then they gave him some medication and he was really buzzed out. The kids said that it was not the same Hank. So they cut back the medication 50%, and then they all said, ‘OK, our Hank is back.’

“But I had heard recently he had not been taking his medication, I don’t know if that is true or not.”

Gathers, a senior at Loyola, is remembered by his coaches as the hardest working player they have ever coached. Off the court, they said he was gentle. On the court, he was a warrior.

“Of all the players I have had, never have I had a player whose life was so centered in basketball,” said Rich Yankowitz, Gathers’ coach at Dobbins Tech High in Philadelphia.

“His every dream was basketball, to be a top quality player. Every day in practice he would work as hard as possible and then beg to stay on the floor to work more.”

Sonny Hill, who has a summer basketball camp in Philadelphia, had worked with Gathers since he was in the eighth grade.

“When he was younger I would tell him the importance of getting up and down the floor, it was an area where he could possibly excel in the game,” Hill said.

“I remember him paying more attention to it and working hard and watching him mature in that area. That became his trademark.

Yankowitz said Gathers, Bo Kimble and Doug Overton led their high school team to the city championship and the state title in 1984-85, Gathers’ senior year.

“I remember we won the city title game against Southern High School in Philadelphia,” Yankowitz said. “They had Lionel Simmons who was their main player, and Bo and Hank each had 27 points.”

Gather’s death hit Simmons and Overton hard. Both were playing for La Salle Sunday night in a Metro Atlantic Conference tournament game. Simmons left the game with 1:20 remaining and was informed of the death. He wept on the La Salle bench and left the court with his mother. Overton also was crying on the bench.

Gathers’ death reduced Temple Coach John Chaney to tears after his team defeated Duquesne, 61-50, in Philadelphia Sunday night.

“When everything is said and done, Hank Gathers epitomizes so much of what life is all about,” Chaney said. “This basketball game meant nothing. To hear that news just devastates me.”

USC Coach George Raveling was hired to replace Morrison at USC after Gathers’ freshman year. In a controversial move, Gathers and teammate Bo Kimble transferred to Loyola.

“I couldn’t feel any worse if it was one of our own team members or family,” Raveling said. “He’s a good person. When they left, everyone thought there were some hard feelings between Hank, Bo and myself. But there wasn’t.”

Raveling said it was not unrealistic for Gathers to be a first round draft pick in the NBA this year.

“I know the neighborhood that he came from,” Raveling said. “And it was a tough neighborhood. And here’s a kid just about ready to reward himself and his family and give him some of the comforts of life, he’s about 10 months away, and it’s over. It’s hard to comprehend.”

Morrison said one of Gathers’ favorite things to do was to imitate him.

“Before I got to a meeting, he would go to the blackboard and have the same voice inflections as me, “ Morrison said.

“He loved to make people happy around him. I remember the last time I ever coached a game at USC. We had all these freshman starting and we beat Oregon State at their court. Hank was so excited and he had played such a good game.”

Yankowitz, Morrison and Hill said that they can’t remember a time when Gathers was sick.

“That’s the irony of this. He was the strongest player, and I used to have to kick him off the court because he wouldn’t leave,” Yankowitz said. Yankowitz said Gathers’ real first name was Eric, but the last couple years of high school everyone called him by his nickname, Hank.

If Gathers was worried recently about his medical condition, Morrison said he didn’t let on.

“I talked to him last week about making sure he was doing everything the doctors asked him to do,” Morrison said. “I used to always say to him, ‘You can’t paint, but I’m going to make you look like Vincent Van Gogh. I’m going to cut your arm off if you don’t do what you are supposed to be doing.’ It was something just between the two of us.”